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Dessert

Almond Icing for Bride's Cake

A sweet icing made from egg whites, Jordan almonds, rosewater, and powdered sugar, applied to a cake.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,679 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓

Almond Icing for Bride's Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Make the icing

  1. Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth.

  2. Grind the Jordan almonds very fine with rosewater.

  3. Mix the almonds and egg whites together lightly.

  4. Gradually add the powdered sugar.

Finish the cake

  1. After baking the cake, while still warm, spread the icing on top.

  2. Return the cake to the oven for a few moments to harden the icing.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  2. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Egg + almondtop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg whites
Whipped into a stiff froth, they give the icing its airy, light structure.
Jordan almonds
Ground very fine, they provide the main almond flavour and body of the icing.
Powdered sugar
Adds sweetness and bulk, helping the icing thicken and hold its shape.

The step that matters

Spread the icing while the cake is still warm. Warm cake helps the icing spread evenly and bond to the surface. The brief return to the oven then sets the egg white and sugar mixture into a firm, dry coating.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar):

  1. Pecansfits about as well
  2. Almondthe original
  3. Chestnutfits about as well
  4. Milletfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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